Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 202,036 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,543,753 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 202,036 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $118,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 397.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,898 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLIC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of KLIC stock opened at $37.52 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.72. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 312.67 and a beta of 1.36. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.13 and a 12-month high of $53.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total transaction of $564,082.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,031,897.76. The trade was a 35.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Chin Hu Lim sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.11, for a total transaction of $1,443,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 59,701 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,215.11. This trade represents a 33.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Profile

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.